The Great Read: Thornton Wilder’s Last Play Vanished Into Thin Air. Or Did It?
Decades after “The Emporium” failed to open on Broadway in 1954, one man went on a quest to find it.
The New York Times
The Great Read
May 27, 2026, 2:01 p.m. Eastern time

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Thorton Wilder, wearing a suit and tie, sits at his desk, his left hand on a stack of papers.

Fred Stein Archive/Archive Photos via Getty Images

Thornton Wilder’s Last Play Vanished Into Thin Air. Or Did It?

Decades after “The Emporium” failed to open on Broadway in 1954, one man went on a quest to find it.

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